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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



>N, 



THE SAINT 



AND 



THE SINNER. 



BY THE 
Eev. WILLIAM S. PLUMER, D.D. 



PHILADELPHIA: 



PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 






6\° 



v> 



Entered according to the Act of Congress in the year 1849 3 

By Alexander W. Mitchell, M. D. 

In the office of the Clerk of the District Court for the 
Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



THE SAINT AND THE SINNER. 



The Bible never confounds the right- 
eous and the wicked. It never des- 
cribes a man in doubtful terms. It 
never puts light for darkness, nor dark- 
ness for light. If God is true, the saint 
and the sinner are unlike. Every man 
is either just or unjust, a child of God 
or a child of the devil. To be both or 
to be neither is impossible. In God's 
kingdom there is no neutrality. Every 
man is a friend or a foe, a child or an 
alien, an heir of God or an heir of per- 
ditiom Every man is now going, as 
rapidly as time can carry him, towards 



4 THE SAINT 

heaven or towards hell. Nor will it 
be long before he reaches the end of 
his journey, and begins the hallelujahs 
of heaven, or the wailings of despair. 
The stamp of eternity and the seal of 
immutability will soon be put on every 
soul. Then he who is holy, shall be 
holy still ; and he who is filthy, shall 
be filthy still. 

" To which class do I belong?" is a 
momentous question, fit to be asked by 
every man. 

It is readily admitted that no man is 
as good or bad as he will be in a future 
state. No Christian is yet perfect; 
nor is sin yet finished. In the Chris- 
tian are the remains of "the old man" 
with his sinful lusts and habits. In 
the sinner are the remains of con- 
science, natural affection, and the ef- 
fects of some good education. But the 
elements of their characters, are as dif- 
ferent as gold and dross, as wheat and 
chaff, as sheep and goats. One is a 



AND THE SINNER. 5 

saint. The other is a sinner. One 
loves what the other hates, and hates 
what the other loves. One rejoices in 
what the other weeps over, and weeps 
over what the other rejoices in. In the 
elements of moral character there is a 
perfect contrast. Heaven and hell are 
not more unlike. 

It is admitted that there are seeming 
contradictions in the Christian. Many- 
things are true of him, which seem 
absurd to men w T ho have no spiritual 
discernment. But no good man is 
ashamed of these things. Many of 
them are the glory of religion. " Wis- 
dom is justified of her children." To 
give up all that seems mysterious to a 
carnal mind would be a surrender of 
the essence of saving truth. Men count 
many things weak and foolish, which 
are above all price. "The weakness 
of God is stronger than men, and the 
foolishness of God is wiser than men." 
1* 



6 CHARACTER OF 

Let us look at each character by 
itself. 

THE SAINT. 

He lives as seeing a God, who is and 
ever shall be invisible. He believes in 
a being whom no man has seen, or can 
see and live. He believes that there is 
one, and but one God; yet he believes 
there are three persons or distinctions 
in his nature, by which he subsists as 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Yet he 
believes the Father to be no older than 
the Son, but both to be eternal. He 
believes the Spirit, who proceeds from 
the Father and the Son, to be eternal 
also ; and all three persons to be equal in 
powder and glory, and the same in sub- 
stance or essence. So that there are 
three persons in one nature. As to the 
Lord Jesus Christ, he believes that He 
has two natures in one person for ever, 
and yet without mixture. He believes 
that He was the maker of his own 



THE SAINT. 7 

mother, and that his mother was a vir- 
gin. He believes that He, who made 
swaddling-bands for the sea, was him- 
self wrapped in swaddling-bands. He 
looks upon his Saviour as so great that 
the heaven of heavens could not con- 
tain him, and so condescending that he 
once lay in a stable. He believes that 
He, who hath life in himself, was once 
dead. He believes that Jesus Christ 
never offended his Father, and that yet 
that very Father said: "Awake, O 
sword, and smite the man that is my fel- 
low." He knows that God is just, and yet 
poured out his wrath on one who never 
sinned. He believes that God will not 
clear the guilty, and yet that he justi- 
fies the most ungodly sinners, who be- 
lieve in Jesus. He accounts pardon 
most free, yet believes it was purchased 
at the greatest price. "He believes 
himself to be precious in God's sight, 
yet loathes himself in his own sight. 
He dares not justify himself in those 



8 CHARACTER OF 

things, wherein he can find no fault in 
himself, and yet believes that God ac- 
cepts him in those services, wherein he 
is able to find many faults." He be- 
lieves many things, which he cannot 
comprehend, and yet has good cause 
for all that he does believe. He knows 
far more than he once did, yet thinks 
he knows little or nothing. He walks 
not by sight, yet he is neither blind nor 
in darkness. 

He hopes for things which he could 
not describe or form a conception of. 
He is confident that he shall reach a 
world, not one of whose inhabitants he 
has ever seen. He knows that God is 
merciful; therefore he fears him. He 
knows that he is just; therefore he 
praises him. He approaches God bold- 
ly, yet is so ashamed that he cannot 
look up. He often boasts, but is always 
humble. He expects all blessings, yet 
always confesses he deserves none. He 
is both a worm and a hero. He fears 



THE SAINT. 



9 



always, yet is never a coward. He de- 
ceives many, and is yet true. He is 
unknown, and yet well known. He 
dies daily, and yet he is more alive 
every day. He bears strokes of chas- 
tisement, which would kill a wicked 
man, and yet he says, "it is good for 
me that I have been afflicted." He is 
often sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. 
He is poor, yet has great riches. He has 
nothing, yet possesses all things. No 
rrmn sighs so much, yet no man gives 
half so many thanks. He does not seek 
great things, yet he aspires to a king- 
dom. In whatsoever state he is, he is 
content; yet he is never satisfied, nor 
will he be, till he awakes with God's 
likeness. 

Before God he is all abasement. Be- 
fore man he neither cringes, nor trem- 
bles. He is strongest when he is weak- 
est, and is farthest from meanness when 
he is most humble. He can pardon a 
great fault in another, but cannot for- 
give a small fault in himself. He is 



10 CHARACTER OF 

rich when men count him poor, and 
poor when men count him rich. He 
believes that the world is his, yet he 
will not touch it without leave. He 
knows that God has given him richly 
all things to enjoy, yet finds great plea- 
sure in self-denial. He serves God 
without sordidly bargaining for any 
thing, yet he expects the very largest 
reward. He saves his life by losing it. 
He is exceedingly wise for himself, yet 
is not selfish. No man has so ma»y 
sorrows and reproaches, yet no man 
has so many comforts and honours. 
The more he forsakes the world, the 
more he enjoys it. The more he makes 
war on himself, the more is he recon- 
ciled to his lot. 

He is full of revenge, yet has no 
malice. His worst enemies often do 
him the greatest services without in- 
tending it. To his dearest friend he is 
sometimes compelled to say, " Get be- 
hind me, Satan. Thou savourest not 
the things that be of God." He loves 






THE SAINT. 11 

and cherishes his own flesh, yet keeps 
his body under, hates his own life, and 
is temperate in all things. He loves all 
men as himself, yet hates some men 
with a perfect hatred. He is the best 
child, husband, brother, friend, yet 
hates father and mother, brother and 
sister. He does good and lends, 
hoping for nothing again; yet expects 
an hundred fold more in this world, 
and in the world to come, life everlast- 
ing. He has no strength, yet can do 
all things. "He desires to have more 
grace than any man in the world has, 
yet is truly sorry when he sees any 
man have less than himself." He calls 
no man father or master, yet is most 
careful to give honour to whom honour 
is due. "He knows that if he please 
man, he cannot be the servant of Christ; 
yet for Christ's sake he pleases all men 
in all things. 5 ' When he sleeps his 
heart wakes, yet no man sleeps so 
sweetly. He has the peace of God, 



12 CHARACTER OF 

which passes all understanding, yet 
has fightings without, and fears within. 
He is the most peaceable of men, yet is 
ever at war. 

Great carefulness is wrought in him, 
yet he is careful for nothing, having 
cast all his care upon the Lord. He 
often sharply reproves a friend, but 
speaks words of kindness to an enemy. 
So surely as you greatly injure him, 
he will pray for you. He heartily 
thanks the meanest man for any kind- 
ness, yet he never thanks the greatest 
angels for their greatest kindnesses. 
The word of God is to him life and 
joy, sweeter than honey and the honey- 
comb, yet he trembles at it and is 
afraid. "He would lay down his life 
to save the soul of his enemy, yet will 
not venture on one sin to save the life 
of one who has saved his life." 

In honour he prefers others, yet 
knows that by his birth from above he 
is more honourable than if he had had a 



THE SAINT. 13 

king for his father and a queen for his 
mother. He remembers kindness for 
life, but tries to banish even from his 
memory all acts of unkindness. He 
contemns the wicked, however great, 
and honours the righteous, however 
humble. No man puts a higher value 
on a good name, yet he seeks not the 
honour that comes from man. To him 
a palace is often as a prison, and a pri- 
son as a palace. Though a servant, he 
is free. He swears to his own hurt 
and changes not. 

He knows that when he has done all 
that he is commanded to do, he is but 
an unprofitable servant. His hope ot 
salvation is all of grace. He believes 
on Christ, as if he had no works, yet he 
works as if his heaven depended on him- 
self. He works out his salvation with 
fear and trembling, yet says, "What 
I am, I am by the grace of God." He 
uses means, but does not rely on them. 
He believes God's counsel is fixed, and 
2 



14 CHARACTER OF 

that he knows the end from the beoin- 
ning, yet he is not repelled from the 
mercy-seat, nor given over to sloth. 
He fervently prays for perfect holiness 
in this life, though he knows he shall 
not attain to it. If he knows a blessing 
is about to come upon him, he prays 
most fervently for it. He daily prays, 
"Lead me not into temptation," yet 
counts it all joy when he falls into 
divers temptations. He is often grateful 
for things which he earnestly prayed 
against. He finds prayer useful even 
w T hen he fails to get the things he prays 
for. 

"He has within him both flesh and 
spirit, yet he is not a double-minded 
man. He is often led captive by the 
law of sin, yet sin has not dominion 
over him. He cannot sin because the 
seed of God remains within him, yet 
he does nothing without sin. He does 
nothing against his will, yet he main- 
tains that he does w 7 hat he would not." 



THE SAINT. 15 

He would not change states with the 
mightiest king, yet would be of all 
men the most miserable, if he did not 
expect a speedy and great improve- 
ment in his condition. He may now 
be employed in sweeping the street, 
yet he looks for glory, honour, immor- 
tality, and eternal life. He knows that 
flesh and blood cannot inherit the king- 
dom of God, yet in his flesh he hopes 
to see God. 

"He is often tossed and shaken, yet 
is as Mount Zion, which cannot be 
removed. He is a serpent and a dove; 
a lamb and a lion ; a reed and a cedar. 
He is sometimes so troubled that he 
thinks nothing true in religion ; yet if 
he did think so, he could not be at all 
troubled. He sometimes thinks that 
God has no mercy for him, yet he 
seeks for it." Even when faint he 
pursues. He runs and is not weary. 
He walks and is not faint. His foes 
are mightier than he, yet he van- 



16 CHARACTER OF 

quishes them. He cannot argue as 
some, but he can trust where reason is 
confounded. If he cannot define the 
Christian graces, he can exercise them, 
and that is better. The more he feels 
his un worthiness, the more is he settled 
in purpose not to let God go without a 
blessing. He sees and laments the in- 
firmities of Christians, yet counts them 
the excellent of the earth. "He some- 
times thinks he has no grace at all, yet 
even then he would not change places 
with the most prosperous man under 
heaven, who is a manifest worldling." 

He often blames himself for not 
loving the house of God more, yet he 
would rather be a door-keeper there, 
than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 
When he is most full he is most empty. 
" He was born dead; yet it would have 
been murder to kill him. After he be- 
gan to live, he was always dying." 
And when he shall be dead, then he 
will live for ever. He weeps at the 



THE SAINT. 17 

thought of the crucifixion of Christ, yet 
he is constantly crucifying the flesh, 
with its affections and lusts. " He lives 
invisible to those that see him, for his 
life is hid with Christ in God. Those, 
that know him best, do not know him 
at all; yet these very persons often 
judge more truly of him than he does 
of himself." The world sometimes ex- 
tols him for things over which he weeps, 
and hates him for things in which he 
glories. " He expects to be as full of 
glory as those who shall have more, 
and no more full than those who shall 
have less." His death is the beginning 
of his life and bliss. " His soul is not 
to be perfected without the body; yet 
his soul is more happy when it is sepa- 
rated from the body than it was before." 
His body will awake in beauty and 
freshness from a sleep in which it fell 
into utter decay and ruin. 

In the last day, "his Advocate, his 
Surety, shall be his Judge ; his mortal 
2* 



18 CHARACTER OF 

part shall become immortal ; and what 
was sown in corruption and defilement, 
shall be raised in incorruption and glo- 
ry; and a finite creature shall possess 
infinite happiness." He shall be a com- 
panion of all the good, and of God him- 
self. He shall have his home on the 
banks of the river of life. 

To those, who know nothing except 
what they know naturally as brute 
beasts, all this matter is foolishness. 
But to those who are taught from above, 
and who have their senses exercised to 
discern both good and evil, it is full of 
light and life and joy. These things 
have a full explanation in the word of 
God, and in the experience of his peo- 
ple. Blessed are all they who have an 
unction that teacheth them all things. 
Having viewed the saint, let us look at 

THE SINNER. 

If there be mysteries in godliness, 
are there no mysteries in iniquity ? If 



THE SINNER. 19 

there be paradoxes in the righteous, are 
there not absurdities in the wicked? 
The more you consider them, the greater 
do these absurdities appear. In eter- 
nity, they will appear greatest of all. 

Many a sinner, who admits that there 
is a God, says in his heart and life that 
there is no God. He could not live 
more as if he knew that there was no 
God, if he knew that there was none. 
With a God in his creed, he is " with- 
out God in the world." Many a sinner 
says he cannot believe what he cannot 
comprehend, yet. he is constrained to 
confess that he comprehends nothing. 
The same man will often believe the 
most incredible things, and yet refuse 
assent to truths to which God has set 
the seal of his word, oath, and provi- 
dence. He thinks that God is alto- 
gether such an one as himself, yet he 
knows God to be infinite, eternal, un- 
changeable, and possessed of all perfec- 
tion; and himself to be finite, a worm 



20 CHARACTER OF 

of yesterday, changing every day, and 
without one perfection. 

He says God is a hard master, gather- 
ing where he has not strewed, and reap- 
ing where he has not sowed. Yet he 
acts as if he knew that God would not 
reap where he had sowed, nor gather 
where he had strewed. He says God 
is a hard master, yet he does all he can 
to increase his responsibilities to him. 
See how he covets gain, influence, 
talents, power, all which will swell his 
dread account. He says God is great, 
yet he insults him daily, is bold to im- 
pudence even towards his Maker, and 
thinks of him with shocking irrever- 
ence. If God were a worm, he could 
not treat him with more contempt. He 
fears man, whose breath is in his nos- 
trils, more than the great God, who can 
cast both soul and body into hell. He 
often thinks himself some great one, 
yet he lightly esteems immortality, vir- 
tue, and communion with God, which 



THE SINNER. 21 

alone can make any man great. He 
greatly dreads to be a laughing-stock, 
yet is not afraid of sin, which alone can 
make any man despicable. He stub- 
bornly pursues a course, which he 
knows must bring on him shame and 
everlasting contempt, the derision of 
God, and the laugh of angels and 
men. 

He knows he must soon die, yet he 
lives, and plans, and plants, and sows, 
and reaps, and garners up, and pulls 
down, and builds as if he were to live 
for ever. He admits some errors in his 
head and life, but thinks his heart good. 
Yet his heart is by far the worst part 
about him. It is desperately w r icked. 
His whole course points infallibly to- 
wards sin and hell, yet he expects not 
to be lost. He intends to repent of the 
very course he is pursuing. He is 
alive without the law, yet he is dead 
by the law. He is most dead when he 
is most alive. 



22 CHARACTER OF 

He is so keen-sighted that he can see 
a mote, and yet so blind that he cannot 
see a beam. He often has a view of 
the future, which surprises others, yet 
he knows not what a day may bring 
forth. He knows not but that in an 
hour he may be among the damned, yet 
seems as quiet as if he were in covenant 
with God. He lusts, and has not. He 
desires to have, and cannot obtain. He 
asks, and receives not, because he asks 
amiss. He has ears which are charmed 
with eloquence, music, and good news 
from a far country. Yet he is deaf as 
an adder to the best news that ever 
reached him. No music in heaven 
would please him. The songs of angels 
are to him dull. The most eloquent 
waiting on earth has for him no attrac- 
tions. He often has a better under- 
standing than his neighbours, yet lives 
and dies without wisdom. In earthly 
things, he knows much. In heavenly 



THE SINNER. 23 

things, lie acts like a madman. The 
bee, the ant, the stork, might instruct 
him. 

He loves father, mother, wife and 
children, more than he loves God, yet 
he does not love them half so well as if 
he loved them infinitely less than God. 
His love to them does not make him 
their real friend. The more he loves 
them, the greater hinderance is he to 
their salvation. The world is to him 
every day a cheat and a liar, yet he 
trusts it more and more. Often as he 
has mistrusted it, he has not learned to 
distrust it. His heart is deceitful above 
all things, yet he has no jealous watch 
over it. He still confides more in his 
own evil heart, than in the best men on 
earth, yea, more than in the Gocl of 
truth. He boasts much of liberty, but 
is always the slave of sin. He has three 
cruel task-masters, the world, the flesh, 
and the devil. He serves them day and 
night. He makes brick without straw. 



24 CHARACTER OF 

He works for nothing, and finds him- 
self. He feeds on husks; yet he boasts 
of liberty. 

"License he means, when he cries liberty; 
For who loves that, must first be wise and good." 

The more he enjoys, the less enjoy- 
ment he has. He often confesses as 
much. Gardiner wished he was a dog, 
and Voltaire wished that he had never 
been born. He hopes for better things, 
when all the evidence is on the other 
side. His very pleasures make him 
miserable. The wages of sin is death. 
In the midst of plenty, he is poor. His 
soul is perishing, though food suited to 
it is all around him. He is noisy in his 
mirth, yet has continual sorrow. He is 
pained if others count him not happy, 
yet he seldom thinks himself so. He 
often has a peace which the thunders 
of Sinai do not break, yet he has no 
peace, but is always like the troubled 
sea, when it cannot rest, w T hose waters 
cast up mire and dirt. He trembles 



THE SINNER. 25 

and flies to an insurance office, when 
he thinks that possibly his house may- 
be burned down. But he uses no pre- 
caution against the greatest losses, al- 
though he knows that the world will 
certainly be burned up. He loses his 
good name by thinking too much of it 
He loses his property by keeping it. 
He loses his life by saving it. 

He hopes to be saved by works, 
which are hateful to God. He expects 
to have a fit raiment to go in to the 
marriage-supper of the Lamb, although 
he has no covering but the filthy rags 
of his own righteousness. He has no 
merit of his own, yet will not beg for 
mercy. He is poor to starvation, yet is 
too proud to receive salvation as a gra- 
tuity. He hopes for a change in the 
terms of salvation, though God has said 
they shall remain unaltered, and reason 
shows that any change would bring 
dishonour on God and loss on man. 
He often piques himself on his birth ? 
3 



26 CHARACTER OF 

yet he is of his father the devil, and his 
works will he do. He talks much of 
wisdom, purity, innocence, courage, and 
candour, but he has none of them. He 
is a serpent in nothing but venom and 
guile. He is a dove in nothing but sil- 
liness. He is a lamb in nothing but 
feebleness. He is a lion in nothing but 
fierceness. In understanding, he is a 
child; in malice, he is a man; in en- 
mity to God, he is a demon. 

The fewer his fears, the more cause 
of fear has he. The brighter his hopes, 
the worse his prospects. The more 
sure he is of heaven, the more sure he 
is to come short of it. He looks with 
alternate envy and scorn upon the right- 
eous. He knows that in the last day 
he will think it a great privilege to be 
of their number, yet when offered the 
same blessings, he is often offended. 
He knows that he is a sinner, and yet 
thinks himself good enough. He de- 
spises the very blessings which he 



THE SINNER. 27 

envies in others. He hates those most, 
who love him best. He is slowest in 
being reconciled to those, whom he has 
most injured. 

He loves ease, yet toils for misery, 
and searches for her as for hid trea- 
sures. He loves life above all things, 
and yet he loves death more, for he 
refuses life when it is offered him, and 
chooses death when it is set before him. 
He digs into hell. He sleeps not 
except he has done some mischief. 
Christians may let a day pass without 
doing any good, but he does some evil 
every day. He knows that every wise 
man tries to do everything in its season; 
yet he sleeps in harvest, and lies in 
the shade all summer, and at last cries, 
"The harvest is past; the summer is 
ended; and I am not saved." With 
him it is a rule to do the most impor- 
tant things first, yet he invariably puts 
them off to the last. You shall find 
him given up to vanity and trifles, 



28 CHARACTER OF THE SINNER. 

when he ought to be agonizing to enter 
in at the strait gate. 

He will not risk any cause in court 
without skilful counsel. Yet he ven- 
tures to go before the Judge of all the 
earth, and stand his trial for eternal life, 
without an Advocate, though the very 
best one is offered him without money 
and without price. In time none per- 
haps denied his sagacity, but in eter- 
nity all, himself included, will confess 
that he was a fool. When wearied in 
the greatness of his way, he does not 
say, " There is no hope." He dies 
without instruction, though surrounded 
by teachers: and in the greatness of 
his folly he goes astray, though he sees 
the path of safety plain before him. 
He becomes a wandering star, and 
goes blazing through darkness into the 
blackness of darkness for ever. Lo! 
this is the man that made not God his 
strength ! 



THE CONTRAST. 29 



IMMEDIATE CONTRASTS. 

The points of contrast in the saint 
and sinner, might be almost indefi- 
nitely extended. Take a few more in 
immediate connexion. Of the right- 
eous it is said, that his giving a cup of 
cold water shall be rewarded, his prayer 
heard, his sacrifice accepted, and his 
counsel fulfilled. Of the wicked it is 
said, his ploughing is sin, and his 
sacrifice an abomination to the Lord. 
"He that walketh with w T ise men, shall 
be wise, but a companion of fools shall 
be destroyed." The righteous weeps 
over his own. sins, and the sins of 
others; but "fools make a mock at 
sin." " A righteous man regardeth the 
life of his beast, but the tender mer- 
cies of the wicked are cruel." "He 
that covereth his sins shall not prosper : 
but whoso confesseth and forsaketh 
them shall have mercy." "He that 
doeth righteousness is righteous; he 
3* 



30 THE CONTRAST. 

that committeth sin is of the devil." 
"Surely the Lord scorneth the scorn- 
ful; but he giveth grace unto the 
lowly." "The path of the just is as 
the shining light, which shineth more 
and more unto the perfect day. The 
way of the wicked is as darkness : they 
know not at what they stumble." 

God says, "A little that a righteous 
man hath is better than, the riches of 
many wicked." "Better is a little 
with the fear of the Lord, than great 
treasures and trouble therewith." To 
the wicked he says, " I will curse your 
blessings," and "the rust of your gold 
and silver shall eat your flesh, as it 
were fire." "There is therefore now 
no condemnation to them which are in 
Christ Jesus," but "God is angry with 
the wicked every day." The Bible 
says, " Many are the afflictions of the 
righteous, but the Lord delivereth him 
out of them all." It also says, "Many 
sorrows shall be to the wicked/' and 



THE CONTRAST. 31 

there it leaves him. Of the righteous, 
it says, " He is a green olive-tree in the 
house of the Lord; he trusts in the 
mercy of God for ever and ever." Of 
the wicked, David says, "I have seen 
him in great power, and spreading 
himself like a green bay-tree. Yet he 
passed away, and, lo ! he was not : yea, 
I sought him, but he could not be 
found." Of saints, Paul says, "Our 
light affliction, which is but for a 
moment, worketh for us a far more 
exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 
God says, " When the wicked do 
spring as the grass, and when all the 
workers of iniquity do flourish, it is 
that they shall be destroyed for ever." 
David says, " Surely salvation is nigh 
them that fear the Lord," but "salva- 
tion is far from the wicked." Of Jesus 
Christ, the righteous says, " My belov- 
ed is mine, and I am his. He is white 
and ruddy, the chiefest among ten 
thousand. He is altogether lovely." 



32 THE CONTRAST. 

But to the wicked, Christ is "as a root 
out of a dry ground ; he hath no form 
nor comeliness; and when they see 
him, there is no beauty that they 
should desire him." To the wicked, 
Christ crucified is a stumbling-block 
and foolishness. But to the righteous, 
"Christ is the power of God, and the 
wisdom of God." Every good man is 
ready to say with Paul, " God forbid 
that I should glory, save in the cross of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the 
world is crucified unto me, and I unto 
the world." 

God declares that the deliverances of 
the righteous are preservations, but 
those of the wicked are reservations. 
Paul says, what each believer may say, 
"The Lord will preserve me unto his 
heavenly kingdom." Job says, "The 
wicked is reserved to the day of de- 
struction." David says, "The name of 
the Lord is a strong tower ; the right- 
eous runneth into it and is safe." But 



THE CONTRAST. 33 

of the wicked, Isaiah says, "The hail 
shall sweep away the refuge of lies, 
and the waters shall overflow the hiding 
places, and your covenant with death 
shall be disannulled, and your agree- 
ment with hell shall not stand." All 
the Scriptures represent the victory of 
the righteous as complete, and their 
triumph as eternal; but God says, " the 
triumphing of the wicked is short." 
"The righteousness of the perfect shall 
direct his way: but the wicked shall 
fall by his own wickedness." "When 
it goeth well with the righteous, the 
city rejoiceth: and when the wicked 
perish, there is shouting." " The wick- 
ed is driven away in his wickedness : 
but the righteous hath hope in his 
death." "The memory of the just is 
blessed, but the name of the w 7 icked 
shall rot." The righteous dies, and is 
carried by the angels into Abraham's 
bosom. The wicked is buried, and in 
hell he lifts up his eyes, being in tor- 



34 THE CONTRAST. 

merits. The righteous shall have "bold- 
ness in the day of judgment;" but "the 
wicked shall not stand in the judg- 
ment." 

Jesus Christ said to the righteous, 
"Blessed are ye that weep now; for ye 
shall laugh." But to the wicked he 
said, "Woe unto you that laugh now; 
for ye shall mourn and weep." One 
apostle says to the righteous, "Rejoice, 
and again I say, rejoice." Another says 
to sinners, "Be afflicted, and mourn, 
and weep." At death the troubles of 
the righteous are fully and for ever 
ended, and their eternal joys begin. 
God wipes away all tears from their 
faces, and they are at rest. But at 
death, the joys of the wicked are fully 
and for ever ended, and eternal sorrow 
begins. On them God will rain snares, 
fire, brimstone, and an horrible tem- 
pest. This shall be the portion of their 
cup. 



CONCLUSION. 35 

Reader, what sayest thou? What 
wilt thou do? Decide something. This 
thing which I have said unto thee, "is 
not hidden from thee, neither is it far 
off. It is not in heaven, that thou 
shouldest say, Who shall go up for us 
to heaven, and bring it unto us, that 
we may hear it, and do it? Neither is 
it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest 
say, Who shall go over the sea for us, 
and bring it unto us, that we may hear 
it, and do it? But the word is very 
nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in 
thy heart, that thou mayest do it. 

" See, I have set before thee this day 
life and good, and death and evil. If 
thou love the Lord thy God, if thou 
walk in his ways, and keep his com- 
mandments and statutes, thou mayest 
live, and the Lord thy God shall bless 
thee. But if thine heart turn away, so 
that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be 
drawn away, I denounce unto you this 
day, that ye shall surely perish. I call 



36 CONCLUSION. 

heaven and earth to record this day 
against you, that I have set before you 
life and death, blessing and cursing: 
therefore choose life, that thou and thy 
seed may live: that thou mayest love 
the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest 
obey his voice, and that thou mayest 
cleave unto him, for he is thy life, 
and the length of thy days." There is 
mercy, will you not seek it? There is 
pardon, will you not accept it? 
come, come to Jesus Christ. Come, 
and welcome, to Jesus Christ. 



THE END. 



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